Customer Reviews

Kissing Doorknobs (Laurel-Leaf Books)

5 star:		(58)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I think the book Kissing Doorknobs is a must read. It's an incredible story and gives a lot of information on OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). This book is about a girl named Tara who discovers she is paying more attention to the cracks on the sidewalk after she hears the rhyme, "Step on a crack and break your mother's back." Slowly her problems get worse she talks to trolls, kisses the front doorknob every time she wants to leave the house, prays every time someone swears in front of her, worries about her parents staying out late, stays up until they get home, and organizes her food before she eats it. These problems become noticed by classmates who begin teasing her. Her sister, Greta, wants to defend Tara and will even beat people up for her.

Tara's mother gets really frustrated with Tara and hits her every time she kisses the doorknob. She repeatedly goes to psyciatrists that can't seem to help her. This continues until Tara's dad has a visitor over. This visitor knows about OCD and suggests that OCD might be what is causing Tara's problems. He gives her the name of a special psychiatrist that can help her, and the name and number of one of the doctor's patients. Tara does visit the "special" psyciatrist even though she "hates" her. She meets Sam, who has problems with washing his hands to often, and they begin to get involved...until and unexpected event happens and it changes everything

Thsi book is one of the best books I have read in a long time. I couldn't wait to pick it up and let the book pull me in and fill the environment around me with it's vivid details. I had to be forced to put it down because this book was the kind of book that you want to finish reading once you start it because of the suspense. I woiuld recommend it to anyone because of it's quality. I loved this book and hope there will be a sequal because of how abrupt the ending was.

Terry Spencer Hesser is an awesome author and she really knows how to make situations real. She made the novel "Kissing Doorknobs" a intresting story- also heartwarming. This book is about a girl named Tara facing OCD. Eveyone around Tara is falling apart because of her strange rituals-even her own family. Every time her mother swears she always prays and her mother hates it. Throughout the book Tara goes through many changes in her OCD.Such rituals include touching the doorknob and kissing her hand, countin cracks in the sidewalk and walking over every crack, having hideous thoughts that her mother or father were dead in a ditch somewhere. Whenever someone would make fun of Tara her little sister Greta would go beat them up for her. Greta got suspended about three time throughout the book.Tara has a bunch of friends. One of her friends is a evil person. Donna her friend smokes and shoplifts. Tara once tried to shoplift but she turned herself in. Towards the end of the book she meets a boy who has OCD too. She never knew anyone else had the same thing she had. Sam (the boy with OCD) introduces Tara to a therapist for OCD. Tara goes to therapy and stops her rituals. Sometimes she can't help but to them but other times she can stop herself. I think people of all ages should read this book because its has good facts in it. This novel also presents another exellent idea. You should never treat a person with OCD any different from another person. Tara's friends only treat Tara different when Tara was freaking out. If you want a good book to read go to your library and check out "Kissing Doorknobs" I guarentee that you won't want to put it down once you pick it up.

Story about a girl's downward spiral through obsessive compulsive disorder. Realistic details that anyone suffering OCD can relate to. It's a wonderful book. I cried after the first page because I knew how this girl felt.

It's the only novel I have ever read about OCD that I wanted to read again. It's written for young adults, but, is enjoyable for all ages.

"Kissing Doorknobs" by Terry Spencer Hesser is about a girl named Tara who has obssesive-compulsive disorder. She does not know she has it so her, her friends, and her family think she is crazy. All her friends stop hanging out with her, because of all the strange things she does. Also, her parents fight a lot, because what she does drives them crazy. Finally, one of Tara's fathers friends come over and figure out what she has.
"Kissing Doorknobs" has many meanings. It says that even if life has you down, friends can help you through. In the book Tara has no friends until one day she meets a girl that becomes her best friend. Whenever she is around her friend she stops the strange things she does. So, when Tara was having a tough time a friend helped her out.
The characters in the book were very well developed. They all had their own attitudes. The parents were fed up with Tara's strangeness and were always mad. Her sister and her friend were normally calm and not like her parents. Also, the author put a lot of emotion into the story.
"Kissing Doorknobs" was a wonderful book. It was written very well and had a great meaning. It is a great book for teens.

As I was reading Kissing Doorknobs, I was connecting with the main character, Tara, in so many ways! I could relate to everything that Tara did, said, felt or thought. I was thinking, "This girl is just like me! She has the same problems that are `strange' and `weird' and doesn't know why she has stupid thoughts!" Well, it turned out Tara was not crazy, she just had OCD. (Obsessive-Compulsive-Disorder.) Little did I know, that 3 years later, I was about to find out why my life seemed so much like hers. I came into the doctor's office in 10th grade, 3 years after reading a book which made me almost sure I had OCD too. I initially went to see my doctor about sleeping problems, and came out diagnosed with OCD. "This explains everything!" I told my mom later. All my weird obsessions and rituals are all explained-and I'm not the only one in the world who has it either!" The solution to my problem was solved. I felt so much better, and I loved to see how there are other people out there with this mental disability such as myself. It was humorous, helpful, and thought provoking all in one. I highly recommend this book to anyone who thinks that they might be a little "weird!" :)

How would you like it if tyrants were living inside your head and they controlled your every move? This is exactly how Tara Sullivan feels. She is a teenager dealing with Obsessive-Compulsive-Disorder (OCD) while the rest of her family is normal. Her day consists of worrying, weird rituals, and mental pain. Tara worries about what might happen to her family, friends, and herself if she does certain things, like breaking the rules of superstitions. To make herself feel better she completes strange rituals like counting sidewalk squares, praying, and kissing doorknobs. The worse part of her OCD is that she cannot control it. Tara doesn't want to worry and complete rituals that drive her family crazy. This might even tear her family apart. Will she be able to overcome her disorder with the help of her family, old friends, new friends, and counselors?
I enjoyed "Kissing Doorknobs" by Terry Spencer Hesser because there was always someting going on. Whether it was Tara discovering a new ritual or her little sister getting into a fist fight at school. This story seemed realistic and is probably something that other people with OCD and their family and friends can relate to. It really opened my eyes. It made me realize how horrible this disorder is and how devastating it can be, not only for the person with OCD, but to the other people close to them. I thought this book had an amazing plot because I never knew what was going to happen next or the new people Tara befriended. The characters were lively and very intersting. Each character was different with a unique personality.
I believe that the author was targeting an audience of teenagers. I think this because the main character is a teenager so it is someone who other teenagers can relate to. Plus, teens can relate to the story, whether is it making new friends, going through tough times, or survivng school. I would recommend this novel because the plot and the characters drew me into the story. The flow of the ideas was good as the book begins with Tara as a kindergardener and goes trough her life until she is a teenager. This is an amazing story about a young lady overcoming hardships and learning to enjoy life again.

I have to relate a story. I recently chose this book off of my own bookshelf in my classroom to read during the TAKS test (state test) administration. I read it in one day, and was fascinated by the account of Tara's life. When I went home, I related this story to my 14 year old son, who has been diagnosed with ADHD since Kindergarten. He astounded me when he said "Oh, I do those things, too!" I let him finish talking about what he did, and I couldn't believe that he had been doing the things that Tara did in the book (counting, praying, etc.)

I now have my eyes open, and am going to seek treatment for OCD for him. It explains a lot of behaviors in him.

This book was more than a surprise help to me!

Step on a crack...break your mother's back...Imagine hearing that in your head all day long, seceretly counting all the cracks in the sidewalk as you walk home and becoming distanced from your friends. That's the beginning of the book Kissing Doorknobs by Terry Spencer - Hasser, thyis beautifully written story is about a girl suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (better known as OCD) is the best book I've read all year. The story is written with such pure thought and accuracy to the disease and all through the story, you can't help but wonder what is going through the main character, Tara's head. The author tells you from the beginning symptoms of her disease to the diagnoses and even all the way through the treatment. I love the way that every detail is carefully put in the story in the exact right place. I also enjoy the way the story isn't just all talk about the disease. The whole time reading it, I was saying to myself "What the heck is going on?" and found the book impossible to put down. Anyone who enjoys books and that keep you wondering and amazed should read this book. I guarantee you'll love it as much as I did.

Tara Sullivan is your normal popular elementary student until one fateful day in the fifth grade. She hears the age old rhyme "Step on a Crack, break your mother's back," and her whole life changes. Now every where she goes she has to count the cracks in the sidewalk and the road. She avoids her friends and her condition tears her family apart. But she doesn't stop at crack counting, no she moves on to praying when someone curses, arranging her food in a certain way, people sitting in the same place every time, and finally kissing her front doorknob 33 times before she can go out. Will this madness ever stop?!!? Read Kissing Doorknobs and find out. This book is very hard to get into, it take you a long time to figure out that she has gone back and is recounting what happened when she first heard the rhyme. After a while the book gets better and you start to feel her pain when all of her new quirks surface. I felt that it was well written and well researched about her disorder. When that came out I felt like kicking my self for not knowing. I was there for Tara's triumphs and there for her losses and I felt like I was really there. Read this book I guarantee that you will enjoy it.

Fiction

The book Kissing Doorknobs by Terry Spencer Hesser is a realistic fiction book, with the theme of obsessive-compulsive disorder (most commonly known as OCD). The story is narrated by a fourteen-year old girl named Tara Sullivan. Through a series of flashbacks, Tara informs the reader about her strange behavior, including avoiding and counting the cracks of the sidewalk in fear of breaking her mother's back, repeating prayers over and over again for another's soul, meticulously ordering her food on the plate before eating, and, as you can tell from the title of the book, kissing doorknobs. All of these rituals and her other obsessions affect her relationships with everyone, especially her mother and best friends. All of this plus myriad doctor appointments lead to the diagnosis of OCD.
All in all I would have to say this book was very instructive beyond anything else. It taught me how to identify if someone has OCD or not by the symptoms. Since I do not have this disorder nor know anybody with it, I cannot say whether there was anything incorrect in the book or not. I learned that the author is also a victim of OCD, like Tara, so she probably knows more about the topic than I do.
This book made me accurately see what someone with OCD goes through everyday. This is even harder if the person is Tara's age. My pet peeve has always been when someone says they have OCD just because they like things to be neat and organized. This book made my pet peeve stronger. I wish people would finally realize that there is a difference between a perfectionist and someone with OCD.
Although thorough and informative, the book does leave out the success of Tara defeating the "tyrants in her head." I imagine the author did this deliberately, either to let the reader conclude on the ending, or because every case of OCD ends differently; everyone has their own story.
I would definitely recommend this book, both to people my age and to anyone who has or thinks they have OCD. If my peers did read this book, they might be more understanding of people with disabilities in general. This is a wonderful read if you want to truly understand this disorder that so many people think they know all about.